Tadej Pogacar captures third Tour de Force championship

Tadej Pogacar won his third Tour de France on Sunday, sealing the triumph with his sixth stage victory.

The 25-year-old Slovenian finished the Stage 21 time trial 63 seconds in front of rival Jonas Vingegaard, good enough to break the Dane’s streak of two straight Tour wins. Pogacar’s overall time was six minutes, 17 seconds ahead of Vingegaard.

Remco Evenepoel of Belgium took the third spot on the podium, finishing nine minutes, 18 seconds back in the overall standings.

Pogacar also won the Tour in 2020 and 2021.

Pogacar became the first man to win cycling’s two biggest races — the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia — since Marco Pantani of Italy did so in 1998.

The 33.7-kilometer final stage ended in Nice instead of in Paris because of preparations for the Paris Olympics, which begin Friday.

After the race, legendary British cyclist Mark Cavendish, 39, announced this race likely marked the end of his career. He won a record 35th Tour stage in the opening week of this year’s competition.

–Field Level Media